


Celtic challenge of murder ballads, song 2, part 4

by AzureAngel2



Series: "I will never marry", a series of Sheev Palpatine vignettes [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 09:21:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10783980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzureAngel2/pseuds/AzureAngel2
Summary: Summary: The greatest trickster in the universe must find out that he is mistaken. About a great many things. Everything that has transpired in the freshly started Clone Wars has not done according to his design. There was a casualty. Within his own family. Now he faces the heartbroken widow.Time frame: The story takes place in year 1 of the Clone Wars (22 BBY).Planet of choice: ChandrilaDisclaimer: SW is owned by George Lucas, Lucas Ltd. and now The Walt Disney Company





	Celtic challenge of murder ballads, song 2, part 4

**Title:** _“I will never marry”_ , a Sheev Palpatine vignette with several parts

**Story 4:** _“A pitiful sound”_

 

 

The sound chatters the stillness once again. It is something between a sob and a moan. It rises in pitch until it resonates in each corner of the apartment like a sea wave that breaks apart.

Normally, the negative emotions of other beings sustain you. As a Sith you like to share their pain and passion, their fear and loathing, feeding off their desperate love even.

The Ministry of War had been much quicker than you. For that you curse them profoundly. You would have found better ways to bring Nagina the bad news.

Since your early childhood years you trained yourself to be a master of words, of deception and seduction. So much depends on you being convincing.

Another wail guts you.

There is pain in Nagina's voice, the undiluted essence of grief. This is worse than the cry of a krayt dragon. Even worse than the growling of a rathtar.

A huge surge of guilt, an emotion you thought you were over with since ages, makes you reach out for the wall in front of you.

As a powerful Sith lord you faced many ferocious enemies in the past, defeated them all. Including your former master, Darth Plagueis.

But the moaning of your niece is something that you cannot deal with. You are helpless, overtaxed.

Not daring to enter her bedroom, you lean against the wall with your eyes closed and hands fisted. There is sweat on your brow.

There are old Naboo legends about water spirits that wail the way Nagina does right now. Those creatures are called banshees. Their cry is a portent of death.

You are truly agitated and instead of recalling a helpful Sith proverb, you can only recall a song from the Lake Country. Actually, only the first verse.

_“This morning as I rambled down by the seashore_  
_The wind it did whistle, and the waters did roar_  
_But I heard a fair damsel make a pitiful sound_  
_It sounded so lonesome in the waters around”_

You shake your head.

As a young child Nagina was always quiet. Her foster parents, Gita and Chetan Anil, feared that she suffered from mutism. Especially after the incidence on the Palpatine family yacht. But then, one fine day, she started speaking again. Just like that. A miracle you are not responsible for.

Rage explodes in your chest, a volcanic eruption that you do not wish Nagina to get hurt from.

You start walking to the toilet and lock yourself in.

Normally, you are the master of the universe and its your playground. Right now you do not feel very masterful.

You search for the right words to console the young widow, but there are none.

What happened to Barin Samye cannot be explained easily.

With a sigh, you sink down on the closed toilet lid, your head in your hands.

Desolation sweeps through you.

You could blame Dooku or Grievous. That is an option. But, when you really consider it, it achieves nothing.

The bathroom mirror cracks from side to side. Suddenly, the surface looks like a spider's web.

If there was a Sith spell to turn back the time you would use it for Nagina. She deserves a happy-ever after. Not only because she is your niece.

Strength pulses through your body. A terrible surging energy that demands an outlet.

There is not even a corpse you can give back to her for a traditional Naboo incineration. Not a single cell left to let her have synthetic diamond, which is the Corellian funeral tradition.

The explosion destroyed every evidence of her husband. But he was on-board that ship, when the Separatists shot it out of the sky. You have your reliable sources who told you so.

You rise to face yourself in the mirror. What you see is a gentleman in his golden years and underneath is the hare-bringer of death. A soulless monster that destroys everything in its path. Even beloved ones. This is what being a Sith is about.

Fact is that you liked this Corellian pighead the way he was: loud, direct, fierce and loyal. He worshipped his wife, gave her a sense of belonging. With you he lacked respect most of the time, but you found that refreshing. Your discussions would last for hours and when they were over, you two had a drink together.

In regret you shake your head.

_“She will remember your heart when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits,”_ you quote from a children's classic that means a lot to Nagina and you.

Suddenly, it is there. A possible solution to get through to her.

You rush into the living-room, where your niece keeps artificial books. Books with real pages. She loves their smell, how they feel like in her hands.

The _'Dune'_ novels.

The various _'Dragon Lance'_ volumes.

The _'Labyrinth'_ story.

And there it is _'The Last Unicorn'._

It is worth a try.

You tiptoe towards the bedroom. The sounds you hear are disturbing, but you are supposed to be a fearless Sith lord.

Standing in front of the king-seize bed, you gaze at your niece for a while.

Then you put the book on the night-stand. You do not need it right now, but you will later on.

You sit down at the edge of the mattress and lean down to Nagina, reaching out for one of her hands.

_“Listen,”_ you quote at random, the words still imprinted in your mind after all those years. _“Don't listen to ME, listen. You can find the others if you are brave. They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints. Listen! Listen, listen QUICKLY!”_

The wailing stops.

You smile triumphantly, filled with sudden confidence for the task ahead.

A ray of light, coming from the hall, shines upon Nagina. Her breathing is quick and somewhat small, like that of a lesser creature and not a human.

_“Then what is magic for? What is the use of wizardry if it cannot even save a unicorn?”_ you give to consider and her tear-rimmed eyes snap open.

You have her full attention now.

It is more than taming an animal.

More than seducing somebody to the dark side of the Force.

It is basic inter-human communication and you feel how vulnerable it makes you. Suddenly, you are exposed to another being. But you have to go through this, for Nagina's sake. You want to pamper and spoil her shamelessly, but she will not allow you to do so. Of that you are sure. You will go for it anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Sources:  
> The song “I never will marry”, the version of Heather Dale  
> Quotes from the Fantasy book “The Last Unicorn” by Peter S. Beagle (1968)  
> Honorary mention of the 'Dune' novels by Frank Herbert (1965 until 1986)  
> Honorary mention of the 'Dragon Lance' volumes by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (1987 until 2004)  
> Honorary mention of the 'Labyrinth' book based on the movie directed by Jim Hendson and produced by George Lucas (1986)  
> Wookieepedia – The Star Wars Wiki  
> Jedipedia, a free German Star Wars-Encyclopaedia


End file.
